Ducks move into 8th place - for about an hour

Tuesday night's 3-2 victory in Buffalo pushed the Ducks back into the coveted eighth spot in the Western Conference standings. But they weren't there very long.

Less than an hour later, the Minnesota Wild was pushed into overtime by the Kings. Though the Kings won in a shootout, the Wild picked up one point for its effort and leap-frogged ahead of the Ducks.

Later that evening, Sheldon Souray's two goals helped the Edmonton Oilers beat Tampa Bay, 5-3, and end a three-game skid. That's two points for the Oilers.

By the time the Ducks touched down in Boston, where they'll play the top team in the east on Thursday, they were back in 10th place and are one of four teams (Minnesota, Dallas and Edmonton are the others) with 65 points.

Tuesday night's game was the 62nd for the Ducks. That same night, the Wild played in its 59th game while Edmonton played in game No. 60. The Stars will play their 60th game on Thursday when they host St. Louis.

While it's true that the Ducks are at a current disadvantage because they've played in more games than their closest opponents, it's not going to remain that way.

The Ducks will have three days off between their games against Vancouver (March 11) and San Jose (March 15). They will have two more days off before hosting Nashville on March 18.

March 11-18 will therefore be the week that will give fans a better idea on who might go to the playoffs, and if the Ducks should have been sellers at the trading deadline.

The Ducks will play their 70th game of the season on March 18. Columbus and Dallas will be playing in their 71st games that day. Minnesota will have reached the 70-game mark the previous day, while Edmonton will reach that mark on March 19.

If the Blue Jackets, Oilers, Stars, Wild or any other teams are hoping to catch and/or pull away from the Ducks, they have two weeks remaining in which to take advantage of the schedule.

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